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With 18th Pick, Pacers Select Goga Bitadze

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Re: With 18th Pick, Pacers Select Goga Bitadze 

Post#41 » by Scoot McGroot » Fri Jun 21, 2019 12:03 pm

Post draft Pritchard said several times that Dom will play a LOT of 4.
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Re: With 18th Pick, Pacers Select Goga Bitadze 

Post#42 » by Wizop » Fri Jun 21, 2019 12:16 pm

8305 wrote:Does this mean we have a deal for Domas or Myles? Otherwise how many centers do we need?


you need 5 guys who can defend the post. he'll begin in the KOQ role, but the more Damos plays at 4, the more Goga will be needed to spell Turner.
Please edit long quotes to only show what puts your new message into context.
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Re: With 18th Pick, Pacers Select Goga Bitadze 

Post#43 » by Scoot McGroot » Fri Jun 21, 2019 2:06 pm

More than anyone, I think this immediately impacts Thad and TJ Leaf. Clearly, a lot of minutes at the 4 are now to be taken, making it tougher to consider bringing Thad back. As for Leaf, I think it means he has to work on his lateral mobility and that he'll have to really be able to keep up with the quicker 4's on the perimeter to stay on the court and roster, long-term. I can see Leaf's cutting working really well in combo off the bench with Goga's passing and long-range shot, but defense is where they're going to have to work. I think they can both keep up with mobile 5's, but the 4's are a tougher call. Ideally, we'd see TJ play more of a 4, but I think he's shown himself to be more of a mobile scoring 5 in terms of style.
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Re: With 18th Pick, Pacers Select Goga Bitadze 

Post#44 » by Boneman2 » Fri Jun 21, 2019 2:10 pm

Best Euro prospect. I like it.

It will be interesting to see a frontcourt featuring Domas and Myles with Goga receiving some minutes too. His skills ideally will neutralize Domas' weakness (blocks) and Myles' weakness (rebounding) creating a versatile 4-5 rotation.
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Re: With 18th Pick, Pacers Select Goga Bitadze 

Post#46 » by Pacernation » Fri Jun 21, 2019 3:05 pm

This is a beautiful day. We got a future Allstar with the 18. pick and yes, you can quote me on that. I saw this dude at 18 years old, torching Munich in the euroleague.. he had 17 points, 7 Rebounds and 5 blocks in 23 minutes and i was just like "damn, this dude is 18"? That there are ppl (especially a lot of clowns on PD) that rather wanted some random college wing, in what is considered a weak draft is beyond me because most of those guys will be out of the league in no time.

This also gives us a lot of options going forward.. Myles or Domas could be in a tradepackage now, because im not sure we want to pay both.

Of course i could be wrong with my assessment, but a guy at center playing great in the euroleague at age 18? I take it every day of the week and twice on sunday.

On top of that, we got warren for cash and 3 future 2nd rounders? Best draftday since... PG? Oh happy day! :D
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Re: With 18th Pick, Pacers Select Goga Bitadze 

Post#48 » by granger05 » Fri Jun 21, 2019 4:33 pm

I never really know what to make of the foreign guys. Their stats/minutes/games are all just anemic even for the best ones. I was listening to the locked on Pacers guys and they mentioned the history of the other rising stars winners. Here's the list from wikipedia:

Season Rising Star Team
2004–05 Erazem Lorbek
2005–06 Andrea Bargnani
2006–07 Rudy Fernández
2007–08 Danilo Gallinari
2008–09 Novica Veličković
2009–10 Ricky Rubio
2010–11 Nikola Mirotić
2011–12 Nikola Mirotić
2012–13 Kostas Papanikolaou
2013–14 Bogdan Bogdanović
2014–15 Bogdan Bogdanović
2015–16 Álex Abrines
2016–17 Luka Dončić
2017–18 Luka Dončić
2018–19 Goga Bitadze

That's a pretty solid list. There's 11 previous winners and I'd give 7 of them credit as legitimate NBA players (Luka, Bogdanovic...not that one, Mirotic, Rubio, Gallinari, Fernandez, and Bargnani). I bolded the ones who managed making the list as teenagers (Luka, Rubio and Gallo) which is even more exclusive company. I think when you're drafting outside the top few picks, getting any kind of future starter or key reserve type is a win. If you take this past list as prologue then that's a positive sign for Goga. Also, this list contains a Lorbek sighting. We've now taken two guys off of this list so we've guaranteed the success of the second chance...right? I feel like I'm on solid ground here statistically.
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Re: With 18th Pick, Pacers Select Goga Bitadze 

Post#49 » by granger05 » Fri Jun 21, 2019 5:49 pm

More research:

I was searching for some podcasts on the draft and happened upon this game theory podcast with "Sam Vecenie". I've never heard of it, or him, before. When I googled his name I found out he's the draft expert for the Athletic and wrote one of the article's linked above (by Scoot I think). I don't have a subscription to that so I don't know if he just repeated himself from the article. I was surprised to find Goga at #8 on their list and apparently the other gentleman involved had him at #6. They felt he was NBA ready to come in and play right away. They spent a good chunk of time talking about how effective he is at setting screens, basically doing the little illegal things you can always get away with.

I couldn't find a link specifically to the episode, but they were doing a countdown and this was recorded yesterday so it's the latest one in their list. The episode is just over 2 hours long. They start talking about Goga just after the 45 minute mark and only spend about 5-10 minutes on him.

LINK
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Re: With 18th Pick, Pacers Select Goga Bitadze 

Post#50 » by granger05 » Fri Jun 21, 2019 6:05 pm

I signed up for my free trial to read the article (the one linked above from the athletic) and it does hit the same beats as the podcast.

They like his pick-and-roll game.

The article also highlights his potential for developing as a 3 point shooter to create space for others:
He hit 40 percent of his 90 3-point attempts this season, with most of those shots coming above the break in pick-and-pop scenarios.


and he's given the title for best rim protector in this draft class. So, sure.
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Re: With 18th Pick, Pacers Select Goga Bitadze 

Post#51 » by Tom White » Fri Jun 21, 2019 6:11 pm

granger05 wrote:......doing the little illegal things you can always get away with.


I gave your post a +1 just for this. Well, OK, the rest of it too.
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Re: With 18th Pick, Pacers Select Goga Bitadze 

Post#52 » by IMF » Fri Jun 21, 2019 6:40 pm

Nuntius wrote:
Maybe we trade one of our young bigs for an upgrade at another position which allows Goga to be the back-up Center. Maybe we start Domas and Myles together and have him play the O'Quinn role. We'll see. It's definitely an exciting turn of events, though :D


I said this on the general board, while I could see it playing out this way eventually, I’d much prefer to see how it plays out on the court first. Trading one of these guys now would be a rash move I think.

Plus since I’ve been a big Sabonis/Turner playing together proponent pretty much since the Paul George trade I really want to see if it might work out better than people’s “conventional wisdom” might tell them.
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Re: With 18th Pick, Pacers Select Goga Bitadze 

Post#53 » by pacers33granger » Fri Jun 21, 2019 7:27 pm

granger05 wrote:The article also highlights his potential for developing as a 3 point shooter to create space for others:
He hit 40 percent of his 90 3-point attempts this season, with most of those shots coming above the break in pick-and-pop scenarios.


and he's given the title for best rim protector in this draft class. So, sure.


Almost sounds like Myles.

This pick kind of reminds me of PG in some ways. Very likely the BPA and a potential steal at the time, but questioned by everyone because of who we already had (Granger). Not totally the same as Granger was starting to break down and both Myles/Domas are young, but still.

Also, for all the talk about trading one of our two bigs, maybe the intent is to develop Goga a bit and trade him if his stock rises for a better fit.
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Re: With 18th Pick, Pacers Select Goga Bitadze 

Post#54 » by winter_mute_13 » Fri Jun 21, 2019 8:01 pm

pacers33granger wrote:Also, for all the talk about trading one of our two bigs, maybe the intent is to develop Goga a bit and trade him if his stock rises for a better fit.


Possible, but financially it's more attractive to keep the rookie contract guy and trade one of the more expensive (or soon to be expensive) guys. Also, it will probably be tough for Goga's stock to rise if he's playing behind Turner and Sabonis.

Lots of things up in the air. What struck me about KP's post draft conference was that he made it a point not to rule out anything.
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Re: With 18th Pick, Pacers Select Goga Bitadze 

Post#55 » by pacers33granger » Fri Jun 21, 2019 8:11 pm

winter_mute_13 wrote:
pacers33granger wrote:Also, for all the talk about trading one of our two bigs, maybe the intent is to develop Goga a bit and trade him if his stock rises for a better fit.


Possible, but financially it's more attractive to keep the rookie contract guy and trade one of the more expensive (or soon to be expensive) guys. Also, it will probably be tough for Goga's stock to rise if he's playing behind Turner and Sabonis.

Lots of things up in the air. What struck me about KP's post draft conference was that he made it a point not to rule out anything.


My thought was more to potentially move him for another rookie contract player at a different position.
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Re: With 18th Pick, Pacers Select Goga Bitadze 

Post#56 » by IMF » Fri Jun 21, 2019 8:22 pm

pacers33granger wrote:
granger05 wrote:The article also highlights his potential for developing as a 3 point shooter to create space for others:
He hit 40 percent of his 90 3-point attempts this season, with most of those shots coming above the break in pick-and-pop scenarios.


and he's given the title for best rim protector in this draft class. So, sure.


Almost sounds like Myles.

This pick kind of reminds me of PG in some ways. Very likely the BPA and a potential steal at the time, but questioned by everyone because of who we already had (Granger). Not totally the same as Granger was starting to break down and both Myles/Domas are young, but still.

Also, for all the talk about trading one of our two bigs, maybe the intent is to develop Goga a bit and trade him if his stock rises for a better fit.


To think of it another way, Goga’s rookie scale contract will run parrelell to Myles’s extension. Leaving plenty of time to make a call between them in year 3, at which point likely one of them should be traded. Assuming Goga works out of course.
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Re: With 18th Pick, Pacers Select Goga Bitadze 

Post#57 » by boomershadow » Fri Jun 21, 2019 9:21 pm

Goga will still be in his early 20s when Turner becomes an UFA too.
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Re: With 18th Pick, Pacers Select Goga Bitadze 

Post#58 » by Nuntius » Fri Jun 21, 2019 9:22 pm

IMF wrote:
Nuntius wrote:
Maybe we trade one of our young bigs for an upgrade at another position which allows Goga to be the back-up Center. Maybe we start Domas and Myles together and have him play the O'Quinn role. We'll see. It's definitely an exciting turn of events, though :D


I said this on the general board, while I could see it playing out this way eventually, I’d much prefer to see how it plays out on the court first. Trading one of these guys now would be a rash move I think.

Plus since I’ve been a big Sabonis/Turner playing together proponent pretty much since the Paul George trade I really want to see if it might work out better than people’s “conventional wisdom” might tell them.


Hey, I'm all for trying it out first. I do believe that Domas/Myles can work very well. Goga/Myles could potentially work but I'm not sure how Goga/Domas works. In any case, all of those scenarios are exciting to think about, imo :D
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Re: With 18th Pick, Pacers Select Goga Bitadze 

Post#59 » by basketballwacko2 » Fri Jun 21, 2019 10:36 pm

Scoot McGroot wrote:
Wizop wrote:should I worry we found the Plumlee?

Sent from my phone.


Hopefully no. Goga plays both ways on the court, and his straight line mobility has gotten better. Definitely needs a lateral movement, but on his way towards being a Jokic-lite? As others have said, he's kind of a cross between both Myles and Dom.

Also, won the Rising Star Award in Euroleague as best young player.


Young is right! He won't be 20 until next month.
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Re: With 18th Pick, Pacers Select Goga Bitadze 

Post#60 » by basketballwacko2 » Fri Jun 21, 2019 10:39 pm

Scoot McGroot wrote:From Jeremy Woo at Sports Illustrated:
Woo's Grade: A

Bitadze is the most NBA-ready big man in this draft, and while he doesn’t directly fill a need for the Pacers here, this pick is all about value. He could be an immediate contributor off the bench for them, combining skill, size and toughness in a package that profiles well at the NBA level. Concerns about his athleticism are a bit overblown. This is a shrewd choice by Indiana.

https://www.si.com/nba/2019/06/20/goga-bitadze-2019-nba-draft-grades


He's calling it a value pick, if the guy is clearly the best player in the remaining field then you take him. Remember when Denver took Nurkic and then to Jokic in the 2nd round? Jokic was less risk, but I don't think we were getting anyone who was gonna make a big splash immediately. This is a pick for the future.

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